This week is World Breastfeeding Week and August is National Breastfeeding Month in the United States. At FHI Solutions, we strive for a world where optimal nutrition is a birth right. We want everyone to reach their highest, greatest potential.

In this short video, FHI Solutions Managing Director, Nadra Franklin, explains how breastfeeding is not only critical for the health and development of babies and children, but is essential for stepping up climate change mitigation. 

The issue of the harmful impact of commercial milk formula production on the environment has been growing in attention.  This climate action tool under development by FHI Solutions Innovation Incubator in partnership with the Australian National University, will calculate the greenhouse gas emissions and water use from the production and consumption of commercial milk formula. The tool will be available ahead of COP27 in November 2022 to equip advocates and decision makers with up-to-date metrics to advocate for responsible policies and leadership. 

Many of us intuitively know that encouraging and supporting women to exclusive breastfeed is critical for health – the nutrition a baby gets from her mother’s diet in pregnancy, and while breastfeeding, is the fuel that drives much of the brain’s early incredible transformation. When it comes to brain development, breastmilk is nature’s superfood.

Yet, in many countries, regulations, policies, health systems, work force and social norms do not always adequately support a woman to exclusively breastfeed her baby. At FHI Solutions, we call for urgent action from governments and donors to incorporate measures to support women to exclusively breastfeed in health systems and in workforce policies – for the health of our children and our planet.